My first night sleeping in the flat on my own was painted with heavy, sizzling dreams of wild tattoos and deft hands, tormenting my senses, and I barely caught a moment’s peace. Every time I closed my eyes, Yannick stared back, want scorching in his wide pupils. He was infinitely better than any nightmares, those I could do without too.
The next three days teaching gave me little opportunity to analyse Yannick while I got my head back in the game. Eight-year-olds were far less cute than six, inherently more inquisitive, but a welcome reprieve from crying over my mother and thinking about a man I’d sooner forget.
When I got to Caulder’s on Thursday night, I was more like my old self. I’d had a peaceful day, read some more chapters of a romance novel I’d been struggling to focus on, ate decent food for a change, unpacked another box to decorate my new life. I was ready to run back into the land of the living. If a certain Mr Ischmov was at the bar, then I could put my face on and be professional. I was good at pretending - I’d been doing it half my life without grumbling much.
He didn’t show face. I tamped down on the irrational disappointment which made no sense to me at all. His absence was a good thing, not totally distracted, I was able to reacquaint myself with serving and got on with it like Bill paid me to. The night was slow, like many Thursdays, but perfect for easing back in.
Friday was a different story. Yannick Ischmov came to the bar and he wasn’t alone. His usual troop of guys were missing, instead a beautiful blonde-haired woman sat with him at a table off to the side of the closed VIP area, and she was literally hanging off his arm. Yannick looked less than pleased, shifting away a time or two, not that I was watching or anything, and I couldn’t help but feel slighted he was parading around a woman in the place I worked, his bar or not.
“That’s the wife,” Carol muttered, tapping my arm, probably sensing my irritation.
“Oh. Okay. She’s gorgeous.” Stunning, really. I’d already caught the frosty edge she did little to hide, glaring at any woman who dared to look in their direction, or gave Yannick anything more than a passing glance.
“Jenny’s working their side of the room. Stay away. She’s a goddamn piece of work, doesn’t miss a thing. That won’t be good for you.” Not wanting to get involved with their domestic quarrels, I listened to my friend’s advice, the other side of the bar suiting me just fine. “They didn’t arrive together.”
What difference did it make? They were together now, and she was making a show to anyone who was brave enough to look for more than a second and telling them Yannick Ischmov was hers. I wasn’t in any league to compete with someone like her. He’d been a man I’d had an exciting few hours with, that he’d remain.
Working the other side of the room was fun, a bachelor party had come in and while they hadn’t booked the VIP, Bill had opened up the raised section for them. The group of eight men were happily drunk but more than respectful - for a bachelor party anyway. Caulder’s wasn’t an establishment to get rowdy in and the group seemed aware of their behaviour, keeping their noise minimal, earning them a couple of bottles of champagne on the house. They ordered plenty more, shots intermingled, the soon to be groom slowly but surely getting smashed. I learned they were off to another club later and I wished them all the best while they scooted out the door sometime later.
Halfway through my shift, I took a break, gulping down a lukewarm coffee to keep my energy levels up, then ran smack bang into Yannick the moment I stepped from the break room and out into the hallway.
“Jolie.”
Pushing my hands out in front of me, I shoved away from him and put my head down. “Excuse me,” I said, plaintively. I didn’t have time to stand there and be reminded I didn’t live up to the wife sitting in the bar. Yannick had other ideas, his hands clasping around the tops of my arms. Oh boy. There was nowhere to run this time.
Yannick
Irina insisted on tagging along with me to Caulder’s, where I’d arranged to meet Sandir and Andrey. Tayte and Greg were otherwise engaged, and I just wanted to hang out a bit. Going to Caulder’s had absolutely nothing to do with catching a glimpse of a certain pink-haired firecracker I couldn’t stop thinking about, having Irina piss on my plans was just another annoyance but on a different day.
Sandir and Andrey were God knew where, and Irina was falling all over me like a bitch in heat. Awkward didn’t even begin to describe the situation. To top it off, Jolie was back at work and
